Sex in Fantasy. Forgive the pun, but for some it’s a complete turn off, and for others it’s a complete turn on.
As an author myself, describing the innards of my novels can be quite interesting at times, especially when I mention my book has ‘adult content.’ I usually get the occasional eyebrow raise, the unsure glance, or even the odd “Really? How graphic?” question, which I have to say, was quite hilarious the first time I heard it.
But it’s true, my novels contain adult content, and more than just the darkly descriptive hack-and-slash, blood-spilling violence of a good old thrilling fantasy fight. Each of my books has ‘a scene.’ The question I find myself asking though, as I did while writing them, is: does sex belong in fantasy fiction?
Sex in fiction isn’t constrained purely to erotica or chick-lit. It’s be preposterous to assume otherwise. I’ve read sci-fi books with it. Mythology is packed with it. Strange-fiction master Neil Gaiman often includes the occasional scene (one of which was strangely omitted from the film-version of Stardust…wonder why) and even the horror king himself, Steven King, likes to throw a bit in now and again. And, if anyone has ever read a GRR Martin book you’ll know that sex more than definitely features in fantasy too. Based on that, some would argue straight away that sex belongs in fantasy, as it belongs in any other genre.
I suppose, in a way, fantasy is a genre that can lend itself very easily to the sexual elements of life, the depraved, the debauched, or the downright saucy and controversial. We also have a unique freedom that not many other genres enjoy. By its very nature, fantasy is fantastical. Anything can happen. Magic and dragons exist, so why shouldn’t sex be included?
A great deal of fantasy is naturally medieval in style, a period where prostitutes and polygamy was seen as very normal, a time when wealth was shown off not only in coin and battle but with the amount of sexual partners. Fantasy has also grown darker in subject matter since the genre first emerged, and dark subjects often mean sex can be used as a driving or very shocking factor. (Just look at the incest we’ve seen in portrayed in A Song of Ice and Fire or the way Chuck Palahniuk uses it.) And despite the variety of elves (even elves have to do it!), dwarves, orcs, sex is also how most of our characters wound up to exist. Therefore, sex is there whether it’s mentioned or not. If you think about it, compared to most of the outlandish elements we find in fantasy, it’s actually one of the most down-to-earth elements there is.
Sex is also a great writing device. Sex in real life is a very powerful factor when human emotions are concerned, so why shouldn’t it be used in the same way as revenge, fear, anger, and betrayal is used. In a way, sex in itself can be power. Sex can be used as a motivator or a fixation, to create tension or emotion between characters, a neurosis for another, a source of disloyalty, a political movement, a display of wealth, an act of rebellion, a sexual identity, to enhance the profundity of loss, or as I mentioned before, a shocking element, if one were to move into the realms of incest or even assault, which can provide powerful sustenance for a plot.
The reason I included sex in my books is because I write about red-blooded humans and emotionally-driven decisions. For me, the inclusion of it in the plot was a necessary one, not only to give extra punch and meaning to my characters’ relationship, but also to power the emotions of later scenes when things went awry. I also used it to provide an important basis for the sequel. In that book, I chose to push the darker elements and used it as a shocking scene, and therefore an important motivator for the movement and decisions of the characters.
But hang on. There are a few downsides to all this sex. The number one problem for sex in fantasy is how much sex to include. Do you want to cross the boundaries into gratuitous erotica for half a chapter? Do you want to keep it nice and polite and merely hint at the activities behind locked doors? I think sex has to be in keeping with the plot and tone of a book, as well as the period in which it’s set. Nobody wants to shift genres halfway through a book and suddenly find themselves swimming through the dialogue of an unexpected orgy (unless that’s your style ;)) It runs the risk of alienating people, just as gore and violence or the use of magic can do. It needs to be considered carefully.
The second problem, and this is where it starts to get funny, is HOW to write about it. Do we use colloquial terminology? Do we explain every little in and out? (Yes you heard me). Do we keep it light and abstract? Some sex in fiction can be just downright awful, and not intentionally. Not everybody can write a good scene. We’ve all read them. More often than not there are cringeworthy moments of pinching, flicking, kneading, thrusting, biting, or fidgeting. There are painful references to voluptuous mounds, volcanic eruptions, slippery crevices, wet caves, throbbing appendages, heady aromas… I could go on, but I think you get the point. Some fictional sex is so awful that there is now an actual literary award called the Bad Sex Awards. Anybody writing sex should find out who was nominated, read their entries, and steer clear.
Even the simple differences between UK and US English and different languages can be unintentionally hilarious. Words such as “bonking” for instance, in Steven King’s new novel 11.22.63. Characters poorly named as though they were extras in an Austin Powers film. All of it can cause a reader to either laugh hysterically or skip the whole thing entirely.
Overall, it’s a hard thing to get right, and it shouldn’t be written lightly. A bad sex scene can ruin a book in one fell swoop. As powerful as it can be, get it wrong, and it falls flat on its face.
I think sex does belong in fantasy, but I also don’t think it’s a staple element either. Reduced to its simplest form, sex is a basic function of humanity, as natural as breathing. If you’re writing about humanoids in fantasy, then sex exists somewhere in there, whether an author chooses to acknowledge it or not. If you do, just be careful, and steer clear of those Bad Sex Awards.
What do you think?
